Statistically JR Smith is The Worst Player in the NBA

I didn’t need an article to tell me that J.R. is an inefficient player, but reading this breakdown from Hoops World is eye opening.

JR just hasn’t been bad, he has been historically bad. Check out some of the stats.

Just how historically awful was Smith’s 2013 postseason? Well, he became just the second player in the last 50 years to appear in at least 10 playoff games and average over 30 minutes per game, yet shoot below 34 percent from the floor. He was also just the third player in league history to attempt at least 65 three-pointers during one postseason and shoot below 27.5 percent from behind the arc and below 73 percent from the free-throw stripe.

The Knicks have lost 10 of the 11 games Smith has played in and his individual numbers are almost inconceivable. The argument could be made that no significant NBA player has played worse. Certainly, no player has been as inefficient. Of the 254 NBA players that have logged at least 200 minutes this season, Smith is the only one shooting below 34 percent from the floor, below 30 percent from three-point territory and below 61 percent from the free-throw stripe.

There are 96 players averaging at least 30 minutes per game and Smith is the only player in the entire league that has a negative Win Share rating (an estimate of the number of wins contributed by a player). Among this group, Smith is also the only player with a PER (Player Efficient Rating) below 10 and true shooting percentage south of 44 percent.

Dating back to the Knicks’ first-round playoff series with Boston, Smith has now played in 19 straight games without once shooting above 46 percent from the floor, which is the longest such streak in the NBA over the last five years.

He has attempted 259 shots over that 19-game span, but has produced just 237 points. This is remarkable, especially when compared directly to his final 19 games of the 2012-13 regular season, when he scored 441 points on 323 FG attempts.

Just remember the Knicks courted JR, gave him more money than any other team would have and felt compelled to give his brother a roster spot.